Associations among the number of mental health problems, stigma, and seeking help from psychological services: A path analysis model among Chinese adolescents

Adolescents with mental health problems are likely to refuse to seek help from psychological services. The aims of the present study were (1) to examine whether a greater number of mental health problems were associated with a lower level of willingness to seek help from psychological services among adolescents; and (2) to examine whether the relationship between the number of problems and the willingness to seek help was mediated by self-stigma, public stigma, and attitudes toward help-seeking. A sample of 251 middle and high school students who have had at least one mental health problem was used for the analyses involved in this study. The bivariate correlation analyses showed that adolescents with more mental health problems were likely to report more negative attitudes toward help-seeking and to demonstrate less willingness to seek help. Path analyses showed that the number of problems did not directly influence the willingness to seek help; however, the relationship between these two variables was mediated by self-stigma and attitudes toward help-seeking. Furthermore, willingness to seek help was not directly influenced by the number of internalizing and externalizing problems. However, the relationship between the number of internalizing problems and willingness to seek help was mediated by public stigma, self-stigma and attitudes toward help-seeking; additionally, the relationship between the number of externalizing problems and willingness to seek help was mediated by self-stigma and attitudes toward help-seeking, except for public stigma. These findings emphasize the importance of stigma, particularly self-stigma, for adolescents in seeking help from psychological services.